Advanced technologies have allowed RFID read/write capability to be affordable and highly portable. Essentially anyone with a laptop/PDA will soon be able to process RFID tags and the information stored thereon. However, situations exist where either the contents of an RFID tag should be unreadable or should be unalterable.
Contactless cards are also becoming more and more prevalent. These cards use radio frequencies (RF) and are used for identification and/or other transactions. Instead of a card reader extracting the card number from a magnetic stripe or accessing a card number in a remote database, radio frequencies between the card and the reader exchange the associated payment information such as, for example, a credit card account number. These contactless chips are incorporated into or associated with various form factors such as, for example, cards, keychain fobs, watches, jewelry, and various other forms of devices.
In general, both RFID tags and contactless cards use wireless links between the device and a reader. The wireless link is provided through radio signals that typically carry data either uni-directionally or bi-directionally. When an RFID tag or a contactless card enters a read zone, its data is captured by the reader and may then be transferred through standard interfaces to a host computer for storage or action. Various forms of RF technology enable RFID tags and contactless cards to be powered and allow the cards to be effective at certain ranges.
Contactless cards are currently secured in a similar manner to magnetic-stripe cards, namely, through their possession by the owner. But as technology becomes easier for unauthorized people to obtain, this approach becomes increasingly risky. Limited technology is available for securing the information stored on the RFID tags. For example, since both contactless card data and RFID tag data are passed to the reader through a wireless interface, this data could be captured by others who place a recording device tuned to the same wireless frequency. When this recording device (e.g. a stolen reader, a “Spider-box,” or any device built from readily-available components) is placed in close proximity to the contactless card and/or RFID tag it can be used to power the device thereby creating a false transaction. These recording devices may also be placed at a far greater distance from the location where the device is being used for a valid transaction and eavesdrop on the data being transmitted via RF transmission. That is, the increasingly available technology has enabled the creation of false portable RFID readers which are moved from location to location to eavesdrop on RFID transmissions. These scenarios are distinctly different from other commonly used payment devices such as common magnetic stripe transaction cards because the recording devices for wireless products may obtain the card data without ever coming into direct contact or possession of the card itself. As such, a need exists for a secure use of RFID tags and contactless cards, if the devices are to remain viable information and payment instruments that are trusted by consumers.